A purchaser of a mobile communication device has many options as to how to pay for air time. One manner in which to pay for time is to sign up for a calling plan. In particular, a purchaser can choose a calling plan with a service provider that gives the user an allotment of minutes per month for a certain price. Any overages are billed to the customer. To purchase such plans, a service provider may run a credit check on the purchaser, or require their possession of a valid credit card.
Instead of purchasing a plan, an airtime customer may prefer to purchase a prepaid block of airtime. Accordingly, the customer will have a finite amount of time in a prepaid block of airtime. Once the prepaid block is consumed, the customer must purchase a new block of airtime.
As the prepaid airtime subscriber uses the communication device during active mode, the balance of remaining available airtime diminishes from the initial prepaid subscription. Unless the user has kept track of the minutes used, and knows the tariff or roaming charges, the user must rely on the service provider to inform him of the remaining balance. To learn the remaining balance of a prepaid subscription, a balance query is initiated by the user while the mobile communication device is in idle mode. The service provider's prepay server telephone number may be five digits that must be input on the mobile device's key pad. In response, the service provider may thereafter provide the remaining prepaid balance either by SMS or an automated voice communication. It would be beneficial if the user could learn the remaining prepaid balance without having to place a call to the service provider. Additionally, it would be beneficial if the user could learn the remaining prepaid balance while engaged in wireless communication in active mode.